


radioactive child

by sleeponrooftops



Series: raising webhead: a parenting guide, attempted by the science boyfriends [1]
Category: Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Incredible Hulk - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-08
Updated: 2013-05-08
Packaged: 2017-12-10 20:29:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/789842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleeponrooftops/pseuds/sleeponrooftops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When SHIELD takes in a young male child who was bitten by a radioactive spider, Nick Fury does his best to convince the council that Tony Stark and Bruce Banner are nowhere near capable or appropriate parents, that they live in an unstable environment, and that they are not only a danger to themselves, but to one another and all those around them.  Against his wishes, the council disagrees.</p>
            </blockquote>





	radioactive child

**Author's Note:**

> Notes —
> 
> i. There are going to be obvious discrepancies to this being canon, though the main ones I can point out now are that Peter’s parents left when he was a baby, he was bitten when he was three, and he’s a child while the science bros are adults.

_April, 2013_

“Sir, Nick Fury has just entered the garage,” Jarvis says, and Tony grunts, fingers tangled in a series of wires while he works.  Bruce looks up from his book, waiting until Jarvis speaks again, “Sir, he’s entered the lobby and is requesting access to the elevator.”

 

“Deny him,” Tony says at the same time Bruce says, “Send him up, Jarvis.”

 

Tony sighs and goes back to work, so Bruce gets up to let Nick in.  He pulls open the print-coded glass door as Nick comes down the hallway.  “Doctor Banner,” he says as he passes by him, “Mr. Stark.”

 

“Fury,” Tony says from his desk, and it’s a moment before he looks up, “What do you want?”

 

“I’m just going to skip over all the bullshit you’d ignore anyway and get to it.  SHIELD has recently received some intel on a young male child who was bitten by a radioactive spider—”

 

“How young?” Bruce asks, folding his arms over his chest.

 

“He’s just over three years old.”

 

“What were the aftereffects?”

 

Nick frowns, offering the folder in his hand, and Bruce takes it, already walking toward Tony with it.  They look through it together, Bruce occasionally muttering, “Was found sleeping on the ceiling after the bite—got bitten cos he snuck into a lab where his father used to work—parents left when he was only a baby—” and then he just starts making little noises as he continues.  When he looks up again, he says, “And how can we help?”

 

“While I wish the council had decided otherwise, they’ve deemed the two of you appropriate caretakers.”

 

“What?” they say at the same time with matching expressions of confusion.

 

“The council believes that he should be put in the care of people who will best understand his abilities—other superheroes.  They also wanted two figures in his life, acting as parents, and they feel that the two of you would be most appropriate.  For obvious reasons, I don’t agree, but it’s out of my hands.  If you don’t want to raise him, we will be moving on to Charles Xavier to see if he could set up a room for him with either Storm or Jean to watch after him until he’s old enough to attend the school.”

 

“Can we have a moment alone, director?” Bruce asks before Tony can even open his mouth.

 

“Of course,” Nick says before turning away and heading back for the lab door.

 

When he’s gone, Bruce turns to Tony even as Tony’s shaking his head and says, “We should.”

 

“We shouldn’t, actually,” Tony grumbles, turning back to his wires, but Bruce steps in his way, dropping to a knee so he’s at eye-level with Tony on his stool, rubbing his palms over Tony’s thighs.

 

“Betty and I always talked about having kids, but it was never a possibility, and it will never be with us unless we adopt, and this is such a wonderful opportunity.  He needs stability in his life—can you imagine having powers at _three_?  It would be so good for him to have parents who understand.”

 

“Bruce—”

 

“I know you think you wouldn’t be good at it, but I have such faith in you, and I know you’d be an excellent father.”

 

“Bruce—”

 

“And think about how cool he’d be—the son of Iron Man and the Hulk,” Bruce grins as he says this, and Tony groans, rolling his eyes.  Bruce considers this a success, and says, “Jarvis, inform Director Fury that we’ve come to a decision.”

 

“Of course, sir.”

 

Bruce leans up to kiss Tony before standing as the door opens again.  “Shall I be on my way to Xavier’s school, then?” Nick asks, quirking an eyebrow.

 

“Actually, director, we’ve agreed.  When can we bring him home?”

 

——

 

“Tony, no.”

 

“But—”

 

“ _No_.  He’s _three_.”  Tony glares, turning back toward what he’s working on until Bruce snaps, “Tony, I swear, if you install that laser into Peter’s room, I will withhold sex.”

 

“Oh, fuck off,” Tony grumbles, but he turns away from the laser.

 

“Thank you.  Will you come downstairs now?”

 

“ _Fine_ ,” Tony sighs before clicking out of the voice call and leaving the lab to take the elevator to their floor, which is just below the lab, at the height of the Tower.  Inside, through the living room, where the kitchen branches off from, and down a hall, across from their bedroom, they’ve cleared out the study they never use and have been slowly transforming it into another bedroom over the past month, though Bruce has been doing most of the designing, and it shows when Tony opens the door.  “Wow,” he says, looking around, “This looks awesome.”

 

A large bay window sits at the wall opposite the door, and Peter’s bed is to the left of it, a little hammock strung up against the corner for when he’s feeling spidey, as Bruce says.  There’s a massive bookshelf on the other side of the window, and a desk in the corner along the left wall while a walk-in closet is on the right.  They put down a shag rug over the hardwood, a rich royal blue, and his bedding is a mixture of red and green, for his respective superhero dads.  The wall over his bed is covered in the periodic table of elements.  Bruce is currently fiddling with hanging a solar system in the center of the ceiling, so Tony goes to help him.  When that’s done, Bruce steps back and says, “Watch this.  Jarvis, lights.”

 

Jarvis hits the lights, and the room is suddenly awash with glow-in-the-dark stars and the solar system.  The ceiling transforms into the night sky, and Tony makes an appreciative noise, looking around.  When the lights go back up, the ceiling resembles the daytime sky, clouds drifting over a blue sky.  “This is pretty amazing,” Tony admits, tugging Bruce toward him, “Good job, pops.”

 

“No way, I’m dad.  You can be pops.”

 

“We’ll both be dad,” Tony decides before he kisses him quiet and coaxes him out of the room.  Tomorrow, Peter arrives.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is entirely Erin’s fault. She keeps doing this. The other day, I said Hulk at the beach, and now I have a ridiculous beach story planned for the Avengers. Today, I said baby!Peter with the science boyfriends, and now I’ve got a two-page list of ideas for ficlets. So, this is my baby!Peter ficlet series. I’m not sure when I’ll be updating—definitely not everyday like my TAJ ficlet series was, but definitely expect more soon. Like I said, I have _tons_ of ideas, and I’m very excited to write about little baby Peter. Don’t forget to leave your thoughts!


End file.
